Conley Brothers

He nodded and took one more but savored it this time like Camilla was.

"Well I don't want to keep you from supper but maybe anotjer time..would you tell me about what it's like to be a Roma?"
 
"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Vlad offered. "It is always very chaotic with the twins, but you are more than welcome to join us."
 
Camilla smiled "Really?" she was used to eating along in her cart, sometimes with Leon or Felix but usually alone "Are you sure I wouldn't be in the way?" it would be nice, not just for the company but she was so tired
 
"Of course!" Vlad said with a welcoming smile. "If you are not too busy, that is. I would not wish to interfere if you are, but I would be happy to share my simple cooking with you."
 
"No not busy" she shook her head "I was just seeing to my new charge but done with that now so nothing left" she didn't have a specific job really, just helped out wherever she was needed, well that was until she was put in charge of the poor boy in the cage. "Can I do anything to help?"
 
Vlad waved a hand. "No, I am fine. I will be cooking outside, though. You are welcome to come or stay here. That goes for you as well, Starnacht." He considered sending Starnatcht after the twins but decided that wouldn't be safe. "I thought I would make some tochitură, mititei, and salată de vinete with cozonac to follow."
 
"I have no idea what that all is but sounds delightful" Camilla smiled and glanced down at Starnacht.
"Dark now?" he asked and glanced towards the covered window.

"Yes it's dark" Camilla answered

Star nodded "Then go out yes" he nodded
 
Vlad chuckled and collected the things he needed before stepping outside and going to the small, well-contained campfire he had burning on the side of the wagon where the unicorns grazed. He'd already set up the metal tripod and now started assembling items. There wasn't much for the feast he promised. "Tochitură is cubed pork cooked in stew," he explained as he worked. "Mititei are small meat and garlic sausages, and salată de vinete is grilled eggplant salad. Cozonac is a sweet bread."

He set to work over the fire, moving with speed and skill. The meat had already been cubed and seasoned for the Tochitură, and he put that in a small pot hung over the fire at a low level then added the thick sauce. It looked like an incredibly thick stew crossed with a barbecue. Once he had that going, he attached a small wire rack to the opposite leg of his tripod and put on ten sausage rolls, each no more than about half an inch long but very thick. The eggplant salad was last in a small skillet at the edge of the fire. He sat by the fire working the diced eggplant carefully, moving it constantly to keep it from burning as he cooked all the water from the cubes until they were cooked through. Then, in the same pan, he mixed in a bit of oil and seasoning before mashing the whole thing into a paste. It did not look very appetizing, but everything smelled amazing.
 
Camila and Star both followed him out into the night air, Cami sat down near the fire but not so close to be in the way. "It all smells amazing..." she said "I can tell you're a better cook than me. I usually just get something from the cook house" The cookhouse of course was in "The back yard" of the circus where all the background stuff happened. Most didn't do their own cooking, being fed from the cookhouse was part of the benefits of being in the circus. But that didn't mean people didn't do their own thing too.

Starnacht climbed out after Camilla and looked around before he went off into the long grass and all but disappeared into the shadows
 
Vlad glanced after Star but let him go. "The last time I took the twins to the cookhouse, the cook banned them after they touched every roll in the basket then started trying to use the sugar cubes as building blocks. Occasionally, I will go and picked up food from him, but for the most part, I like to cook as my mother taught me."
 
she smiled at that "they do like to get into mischief" she said but fondly, they were sweet kids "It's a good skill to have... I remember vaguely heating up can's of food in a basement somewhere... I know Felix doesn't cook but he always kept us fed I'll give him that" Felix never spoke of their past before the circus and Camilla never really did either, in part because she didn't remember most of that time, just bits here and there
 
"That is good, though not nearly as good as this," Vlad said proudly as he moved the food from the fire. "Now all I need is to... Ah." He looked beyond Camilla, his words trailing off as he spotted the Strongman coming toward them, a twin in each hand. "At least they are home for supper."

"Vlad!" the strongman roared in a heavy Italian accent. "These two, zay have been into mine things! Zis is not acceptable! Not at all! I demand zat zese two are-"

"We all know you are not actually Italian, Armando," Vlad said wearily. "If you wish for me to know what it is you are complaining about, then you will have to speak clearly."

Armando - A.K.A. Arnold - sniffed, his bushy mustache twitching. "All the great strongmen are Italian. The crowd gets into the act more with the accent," he said, his accent suddenly a lot more Bostonian. "Anyway, whatever, I found these two sneaking under my trailer and picking up bits and bobs that I'd thought I'd lost. They have a button from almost every costume!"

"Your costumes have buttons? I thought you painted them on," Vlad said then held up a hand before Arnold could get angry. "I am only teasing you, Arnold. Please turn them over to me, and I will see to it everything is returned."

"I'd rather nothing was stolen in the first place. These two need a good willow switch to the backside. That'll help them remember the lesson," Armando grumbled, but he shoved the twins roughly toward Vlad. "I got my things back already. Keep your eyes on these little shisters!"
 
Camilla watched the exchange quietly from where she sat, those kids were going to get themselves into a lot of trouble one of these days, trouble they may not get out of. She worried for that day "Thank you for bringing them back Armando" she spoke up, she had to agree with him, not about the willow switch, but they did need to learn a lesson somehow but didn't say as much, they were Vlad's charges not hers, though she was curious how he had come to have them
 
"Sorry to inturrupt your dinner, Camilla," he said with a nod toward her. He gave the twins a final glare and stormed off.

The twins glared back at him, but then they looked at Vlad uneasily. "They were-"

Vlad held up a hand. "Not now," he said, sounding tired. "Right now, we eat. I will talk about this with you later."

The twins ducked their heads and sat huddled near the fire while Vlad served up the food and offered Camilla the first plate. They were rarely so still and quiet.
 
Camilla took the offered food "Thanks Vlad, smells delicious" she complimented "Can I ask... how did you and tim and tam all end up together?" she asked Vlad "I never did ask"
 
"Oh? I thought you knew the story," Vlad smiled. "We were stopping by a small farm town, and they tried to pick my pocket. After that, it was more or less how Starnacht came to me. Minus some troubles from the natives as I was not the only pocket to be picked."
 
"No I never knew for sure how it happened" she answered and smiled a little looking over at the two "Seems like they have yet to learn not to pick pockets" she said it lightly enough, it wasn't her job to lecture or discipline the twins. She looked back at Vlad "You seem to attract little ones in need"
 
"I do. I am not sure how it happens, but I cannot complain," Vlad said, smiling at the twins. Then he called, "Starnacht! Supper! Please return!"

The twins shifted guiltily, leaning into one another as they picked unhappily at their food.
 
Star appeared moments later pearing out of the shadows a moment, squinting at the firelight before his eyes adjusted and he came to sit barely within the fire light.

Camilla noticed their long faces "well I did bring gifts for them but seeing what just happened...is it ok to give them presents?"
 
The twins brightened a little, but Vlad shook his head. "No, not right now. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, but right now is not a good time." He looked at the twins. "Unless you disagree?"

They brightened again, but then their faces fell once more. "No, we mustn't be rewarded for what we did,' they murmured sadly but not resentfully.
 
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